


Lethe

by Epiphanyx7



Category: High School Musical
Genre: Amnesia, Community: cliche_bingo, Drunkenness, Humor, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-21
Updated: 2009-08-21
Packaged: 2017-10-16 20:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/168938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epiphanyx7/pseuds/Epiphanyx7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But if he'd gone to sleep on the couch, how did he wake up in bed with a barely-dressed and artistically touselled Ryan Evans?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lethe

**Author's Note:**

> [[Written for Cliché Bingo 2009. Cliché: Woke Up In Bed Together]] Ryan/Chad implied. _Lethe_ is the name of one of rivers in the underworld in traditional Greek mythology, those who drink the water lose all of their memories.

He was warm, which was nice. Even nicer, of course, was that he had room to stretch -- at home, his bed was like way too short for him to really sprawl out. Now, Chad took advantage of the extra room and stretched his legs and arms, tucking his head back into the crook of his elbow.

"You're squishing me," someone said to his left, so Chad moved obligingly in the other direction, even though meant he was a little less warm.

And then he woke all the way up and jerked, eyes flying open to see the disgusting pastel flowers he'd learned to associate with the guest room at Troy's house. "Oh, jeez," he said, slamming his eyelids shut. The flowers were seared onto the backs of his eyelids, the bright memories flaring like sunspots.

He felt weak and nauseous and his head was throbbing with his heartbeat, increasing in intensity and skyrocketing in the pain department. He had never been so hung over in his life, because Chad hadn't actually had all that much experience drinking. "Oh, god," He groaned, thrashing in the hopes of falling off of the bed and rolling underneath to death or sweet, dark oblivion.

The someone else swore softly, and then Chad was being pulled upwards, a glass of water held against his lips. "Drink,"

Opening his eyes a tiny bit and squinting through the pain, Chad saw Ryan, who was not wearing a hat - or a shirt - and whose hair was messy and sticking upwards in all directions. "I told you, you need to keep hydrated," Ryan said very softly, apparently taking pity on the pathetic state of Chad's hung over brain.

Choosing to ignore that comment in favour of gulping down water, Chad gasped "Nhhng," and tried to flop back down again.

Ryan pulled him up, make sure he could hold the glass without dropping it, and then he hopped off of the bed -- holy shit, Ryan had been in bed with him -- and padded towards the washroom. In his bare feet. And --

Closing his eyes and tipping back his head, Chad contemplated the situation. Okay, so perhaps he'd overdone it a bit on the drinking. Regardless, it really didn't explain why he'd gone to sleep on the couch... he was relatively certain that he'd been planning to sleep on the couch, in any case. But if he'd gone to sleep on the couch, how did he wake up in bed with a barely-dressed and artistically touselled Ryan Evans?

And that last part, he really didn't want to think about, because Ryan being fully clothed was enough to send Chad's obnoxious perverted mind into overdrive. He already spent way too much time thinking about Ryan's clothes, and Ryan's body underneath his clothes, and maybe Chad had a few recurring dreams in which he got to take Ryan's clothing off, with his teeth, but that wasn't something that happened often or anything. Ryan in jeans was hard to deal with, but Ryan wearing a pair of silky green boxers and nothing else, that was just too much. It was surreal.

Looking down at himself, Chad realized the he was wearing a t-shirt and his boxers, which was - um. Okay. Ryan wasn't the kind of guy who would molest him in his sleep or whatever... it's just that Chad wasn't sure he wasn't the kind of guy who would molest Ryan in his sleep. And he couldn't remember anything from the night before, except for vaguely when he'd arrived at Troy's they'd started doing jell-o shooters. After that it was a blur, and then just - blank. Nothing at all.

Ryan returned with some Advil and a bottle of Gatorade, yawning sleepily. Chad stared in petrified terror at the soft, pale curves of Ryan's bare shoulders as the other boy said "This will help," and held them out.

Uh, Chad thought, and then he took them kind of gratefully and closed his eyes, trying to pretend like he couldn't still see and sense Ryan, practically naked and like, three feet away from him...

Chad crawled back into the bed and closed his eyes. He would freak out later, he decided. When he wasn't hungover.

-

Later, when Chad woke up for the second time, he was alone in the bed and someone had piled his clothes on the chair. Which was kind of nice, but Chad couldn't remember taking his clothes off, and apparently he was still missing a sock.

"Um," He said, stumbling into Troy's kitchen. The other guys were just as hung over and miserable-looking as he was, so he shuffled over to the pantry and grabbed some bread to make toast.

-

Ryan offered to drive him home, which was awesome because otherwise Chad was going to die on the way there, from like, stumbling in front of traffic.

"You're such a lightweight," Ryan said, laughing at him.

"I'm not a lightweight," Chad said, shivering a little when Ryan steadied him with a hand on his waist. "I just don't have a lot of practice,"

And Ryan shook his head in disbelief. "So, what do you remember from last night?" He asked.

Chad turned to look at him. "Uh, nothing?"

"At all?" Ryan rolled his eyes. "Wow, you are an absolute mess."

"Why?" Chad asked, because he was a masochist or an idiot or both. "Did something happen?"

Smirking, Ryan turned on his car and backed out of Troy's driveway. "Nothing important," He said.

-

"So," Chad said on Monday morning, when they were at school and the curiosity was actually going to kill him. "What happened?"

Ryan raised his eyebrows. "I already told you, it's not important.

"Yeah, but like. I should still know what it is?"

"You don't want to know."

-

"Just tell me what happened," he hissed at Ryan, pausing by his locker. The blond stared at Chad as if he were insane, which wasn't too far off of the truth, actually.

"Nothing happened, Chad," He said, firmly, but his lips were twisted in a little smile like he knew something Chad didn't, something to do with Chad getting drunk and waking up in his bed.

"You're lying and I can tell," Chad said. "Just tell me what I did, okay?"

Ryan contemplated this for a moment, then he sighed and closed his locker. "What if I said you kissed me?" He said, looking away from Chad, down the hallway to where the drama department was gathering to look at Sharpay's new haircut.

And oh, shit, that was totally the answer Chad had been afraid of. He didn't squeak or make any other girly noises, but it was a close thing, and then Chad needed to distract himself from that by twirling his basketball on one finger. Ryan wasn't looking at him -- and Chad couldn't remember. Had it been a quick kiss? Messy and wet? Or a soft one? More importantly, had it been good? Had Ryan kissed him back? "Uh," Chad said. "I didn't -- I mean."

Ryan sighed and then looked at him. "Okay, Chad." He said. "Have it your way. You got really drunk and then you kissed me, okay?"

Chad stared at him.

"And then you went to sleep on the couch," Ryan said, smiling a little bit. "And I went to sleep in the guest room. And you managed to stumble off of the couch all by yourself, walk up the stairs..."

"You're fucking kidding me," Chad said, horrified.

"And you pretty much tackled me," Ryan said. "Honestly, I think I have bruises,"

And then Chad made one of those girlish, embarrassing noises he'd been trying to avoid. He stared at Ryan, at Ryan's red, knowing mouth and his stupidly girly eyelashes, the way Ryan looked at him and his eyes said just try and pretend you don't want this. "Fuck," Chad said.

"Anything else?" He said sweetly.

"I really...?"

"You really," Ryan said, smirking.

"But -- I'm not like that," Chad protested.

"Of course not," Ryan made soothing noises, patting Chad's shoulder absently. "You just get drunk and act like an idiot."

"Lots of people act like idiots, they just manage to do so without being all --"

"Gay?" Ryan suggested.

"Shut up," Chad hissed. "I was referring to my complete and total amnesia, not like, the  -- part with -- um."

Rolling his eyes, Ryan made to leave.

"Wait!" Grabbing his arm, Chad tugged him back. "I really -- I mean. Did I seriously?"

"Did you seriously...?" Ryan repeated, looking amused.

"I mean, you can't expect me to believe that I..." Chad trailed off.

"That you _what_?" Ryan asked, smirking. "That you crawled into bed with me and tried to take off my clothes?"

And right, okay, Chad thought, flushing. That is exactly the reason that he wasn't supposed to drink, because if he got drunk he did stupid shit. "Is that what happened?" He muttered.

Ryan winked at him. "Oh, that's _part_ of it."

And then he sashayed off, idly waving his fingers in farewell.

-  



End file.
